Google and Asus to launch 7-inch tablet in July?

Google, with the manufacturing assistance of ASUS, has been rumoured to release their own Android tablet. This could very well be a Nexus branded tablet with the size expected to be 7-inches, selling for about $200. New overseas reports from DigiTimes suggests the Google tablet is in the works and will start shipping in June, followed by a full release in July.

DigiTimes originally said a Google and ASUS tablet will be available “as early as May,” but were quick to backtrack, stating “Google originally planned to release its entry-level 7-inch tablet PC in May, but design and costs did not reach its expectations, and the product was delayed to July for some minor adjustments.”

According to their “upstream supply chain” sources the Google/ASUS partnership have ordered 600,000 tablets. 600k is a massive number of Android tablets, considering that one of ASUS’ most popular tablets – Transformer Prime – managed to ship approximately 80,000 tablets within its first couple months. However, the June shipment date seems a bit realistic as Google I/O is happening on June 27th, so we could possibly have an official announcement then.

THIS TABLET WILL BE $199 OUTRIGHT ONLY, I AM WAITING FOR IT, NO MORE APPLE CRAP!!

David

I wait here. Cash in hand

hinds

So basically my first tablet will be released soon! That’s great news.

Pablo Moses

Finaly an entry-level 7-Inch table for $200, I’m In!

Bear

My first tablet is going to rock!

Mark

So we could looking at a Nexus tablet shipping in July, 5 Nexus devices shipping in the fall, the Galaxy Nexus presumably supported through Jelly Bean, and the Nexus S currently supported but presumably not supported through Jelly Bean. That is 7 or 8 devices concurrently supported while a the moment Google has its hands full just getting the GN from 4.0.1 to 4.0.4. All the flashy new devices sound great but I wonder if Google will be spreading themselves too thin.

Netguru

The problem with getting the GN to 4.0.4 in Canada is not Google…it is Samsung. Google has had 4.0.4 out in the U.S. for quite a while.

Mark

It’s Google’s phone and they are ultimately responsible. Samsung is just where the regional changes are outsourced to. Samsung only controls what Google tells them to control, when Google tells them to control it, and according to Google’s timelines.

metoo

Another $200 Android tablet? Amazon did pretty well with theirs, but then the sales dropped off and Samsung’s picked up. Samsung’s tablets aren’t $200 crapware, though I suspect most of their sales were carrier subsidized or giveaways.

Amazon could sell their tablets at $200, eat the loss and expect to make it up on the back end with media sales. And even then, it is a barebones, gimped tablet. The Nexus has always been positioned as a premium brand. With a price point of $200, it will be one of the lowest spec’ed tablets on the market. I am not sure it is a good idea to pollute the Nexus name by equating it with cheapo crapware.

metoo

@netguru: Google (and many of the Android vendors) claim it usually the carriers that cause the delay. Yes, the vendors add time to do their own testing, but once a vendors has done their specific testing, the next step is carrier acceptance and approval. Since Samsung has updates ready and available in the US, it would seem the only difference is the Canadian carriers.

That’s one of the main problems with Android being controlled by the carriers.

Mark

Only for non-Nexus devices. The carriers have no influence or interference with Nexus updates whatsoever.

NexusMan

Will this be available at futureshop? I know thats probably a stupid question… but I cashed out my reward points for gift cards there for this tablet… but if google decides to only sell it through the play store or something I’m screwed lol

metoo

Mark: That, unfortunately, is a myth.

Google’s lead engineer on Android OSS a month ago:
“The part that blows my mind is that some variants of the Google-engineered flagship devices still haven’t received Ice Cream Sandwich (or are stuck with older versions of Ice Cream Sandwich) because of delays introduced by operator approvals”

Mark

That is in reference to Verizon/Sprint variants by Google, not the Samsung GSM regional builds. Ironically, the Samsung variants are more ‘Pure Android’ than the Google prepared LTE phones.

Mark

Also keep in mind that JBQ is *the* lead engineer, he is just a senior member of the AOSP team. JBQ himself admits that has nothing to do with OTA’s and has absolutely no knowledge about Samsung and what goes on with the regional builds.

Mark

Sorry, is NOT *the* lead engineer.

EddieWinslow

I am curious to see what this brings. I don’t need a quad core high end 10″ tablet. 7 inches with decent speed to browse the web and read email for watching TV is all i am looking for.

Megahertz

They can take my money now.

metoo

EddieWinslow: so then why haven’t you bought a Kindle Fire or one of the no-name Chinese Androids?

EddieWinslow

I want a pure Android experience for my Tablet. Kindle Fire is great, but i don’t use any of the services they provide.

Asus has always made fantastic tablets in my opinion, just the Transformer series was never for me. I read rumors of them making a smaller 7″ tablet. So I waited.

Dylan K

shutupandtakemymoney.jpg

metoo

Mark: I don’t care what the carrier is. You previously said carriers have no influence on Nexus updates whatsoever. That simply is not true.

Mark

Okay then, which carrier is it? Because there is only one build in Canada: yakjuux. It is identical in every respect across Bell, Rogers, Telus and the others. So is Rogers telling Google how to update Bell and Telus phones? Or is is Bell that controls everything. Maybe they’re conspiring around a board room table together? Not likely. That is a myth and simply untrue.

The carriers are not tinkering with or holding up Nexus builds because they have no build to tinker with. It’s a Nexus.

Midgs

I thought the nexus s was held up by fido giving the thumbs up on Ics

I thought the wifi only samsung tablets actually has to have Rogers give the thumbs up because Rogers owns wifi devices apparently

I thought the only way to bypass carrier soft / firmware updates was manually installing.

John

Just another device that will be outdated the second the next Android release is made. Sort out your fragmentation issues Google!!!

Caldera

Regarding Samsung YAKJUUX, it is likely the carriers (Rogers especially) want their own version of wallet, which is why it is not available in Canada. Carriers have their say, even with “Pure Google” devices. Thus the delay, and the “broken” NFC in the Canadian 4.0.2 update.

Chris

Does Google even have a compelling tablet platform yet? I mean from an end user perspective…One filled with quality apps? I still don’t get the sense that they do, and alot of the ones they do have feel like warmed over iOS apps.